After getting the braces off I spent most of the afternoon at the dentist's office having my teeth cleaned and a cavity filled in one of my molars. He also found three more small cavities that I should have filled eventually. I guess that's what you get when you can't floss properly for a month after surgery? Haha.
I've noticed since surgery that one of my lower front teeth has turned a light grey color. I hoped it was just staining, but all the while I knew in the back of my mind that it probably wasn't. Well, I pointed it out to both my orthodontist and dentist today and it looks like that tooth is dying. :( It must have been injured somehow during the surgery. My orthodontist said that it's not very common for a lower tooth to be affected and that if a tooth dies it's usually an upper tooth. Maybe it happened during the genioplasty somehow? It's not infected or causing me any pain, and it's not very noticeable to other people so I'm going to take a "wait and see" approach for now. However, there may be a root canal in my future. Does the dental madness ever end? :)
Looks great! Congrats, Lindsay!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Naomi! :D
DeleteWow, congrats!!! You look fantastic:)
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteYay! Congratulations! You look great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah!
DeleteYou look so gorgeous! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I really appreciate it!
DeleteCongrats! you look great :D how is recoevery?
ReplyDeleteI am getting my first x ray in a couple weeks after 6 months in braces. How many x rays did you get before surgery? i m comparing our schedule because we both have Dr. Major and with similar problem! thanks
Hi there! To be honest I've been having a hard time with jaw joint and muscle pain since getting the braces off. My bite has opened up in the front again and my teeth don't fit together properly any more. I've been really bummed about it. :( I went to see Dr. Major and Dr. Gotaas about it and they're both surprised and baffled by the changes. I've been wearing my retainer 24/7 and it still fits! I'm getting a splint to wear at night and I'm supposed to wait another few months to see it things change more, then I'll have to have more ortho treatment, possibly braces again. Apparently it's a tooth movement issue rather than a surgery relapse issue so I guess that's good...I don't need surgery again at this point.
DeleteI think I only had one xray before the braces went on, then another set of xrays a couple of months before surgery for planning purposes. My teeth were pretty straight before the braces went on though so it may be different in your case. My teeth didn't need a lot of movement before surgery.
Hopefully things are going well for you! You'll have to keep me updated on your progress!
hey i am so sorry to hear your bite opened up! i totally understand how frustrating it is, expecially after going thru the long process of braces, surgery and recovery :( how much did you bite open up? do you think perhaps your braces was taken off too soon? i really hope it doesnt get any worse than now, and i am sure dr. major will find a way to fix it permanently!!
ReplyDeleteI am worry about surgery and even though i dont know when i will be ready i keep thinking about it every day. Scary how its on my mind every day it sucks :( I will keep you updated with my progress, next appontment i m going to try to get specific details on my progress from dr. major, although it probably wont be easy as i barely get to talk to him for 5 seconds ...
Thanks for the encouragement! Apparently it's an arch width issue that's causing the open bite, so my upper arch is getting wider and/or my lower arch is getting more narrow so that the teeth don't mesh properly any more. Dr. Major says it's very strange since my teeth weren't moved that much with the braces since they were already straight, so there shouldn't be any relapse issues width-wise. I don't think that keeping the braces on longer would have prevented this...hopefully he can figure out what's going on and fix it!
DeleteI know it's so hard not to think about surgery when it's looming in the future! But don't try to worry too much! Who's your surgeon? Have you met with him yet? Dr. Gotaas was great at answering all my questions and he spent lots of time explaining things to me, so don't be afraid to ask lots of questions at your surgeon appointments...it really helps with the anxiety. I know Dr. Major always looks busy and doesn't volunteer a lot of info but he'll spend time answering questions if you ask him. The trick is to ask him before he runs away! haha. It really helps if you tell the assistant you have questions and they'll let him know and will make sure he answers them before moving on to the next patient, or they'll call him back. This has happened to me many times. :)